Zambia’s propensity to shed innocent Barotse blood is so sickening that our blood is still boiling, tempers infuriated by the dumbfounding and mind-numbing gruesome videos and pictures that came out of Zambia’s Sesheke by-election political campaigns, especially as recorded on Friday the 8th, the day that Republican president, Edgar Lungu was in the area to drum up support for his ruling Patriotic Front (PF) party candidate in the election that was slated for Tuesday, 12th February 2019.

From the carnage, one would think the state agents needed a ritualistic sacrifice to feed the presidency’s diabolic appetite for Barotse blood! It makes us wonder what it is with Lozi blood that makes Zambian state agents and politicians crave it so much that they appear more easily ready to not only brandish their loaded guns but also discharge them at unarmed innocent children, young and old men and women!

Going by recent media reports as captured in the last decade, one can rightly observe that Zambia’s propensity to shed innocent Barotse blood is now far much higher than at any single time in history, and what would worry any observer is that the trend seems to be happening to Barotse people more than to any other group of people in the so-called unitary state of the Republic of Zambia. When it comes to the people of Barotseland, it is as though a different standard or code of operation is applied, and this is by no means mere innuendo because records actually exist to prove this assertion!

Remember it was not long ago when Mr Michael Sata, then Republican president and commander in chief of Zambia’s armed forces, publicly issued a command to his military personnel to go to Lukulu in Barotseland and discharge their firepower, as a mere training exercise, at anyone they would hear speaking siLozi, Barotseland’s Lingua Franca! Accordingly, the only crime that one would need to have committed is to be a speaker of the now apparently criminal language!

“When they say 'fa' shoot and when they say ' Eni sha' just fire!” Sata had commanded his armies!

Could this be the criterion that has since been at play as we saw, shortly after, the likes of Davis Mwila, now Minister of Defence, go and discharge his firearms at a group of Barotse youths, maiming two of them in the most astonishing manner, and yet got away with his murderous crimes!

How about Rupiah Banda, then Republican president, who instructed his armed security forces to deal ruthlessly with unarmed Barotse people, killing 19, whose only crime was to peacefully march to their Limulunga royal court to seek an audience with their royal authorities over the Barotseland agreement 1964 which the Zambian government had unilaterally abrogated! And before you criticise us for cheap propaganda, this is exactly what is stated in the Chongwe Commission of Inquiry report, which the state is now too ashamed to make public because it directly implicates the Zambian head of state at the time.

We can, with no fear of any contradiction, state categorically that in Zambia there is a higher propensity by the state and the ruling class to shed the blood of those who belong to the opposition political parties, especially the main opposition UPND who are often treated as not deserving the same human rights as their ruling PF counterparts!

Similarly, we can state that in Zambia, there is an even higher propensity by the state and its agents, including ruling politicians to shed Barotse blood more than any other group of people in the republic, and unfortunately the Lozi speaking region is both Barotzish and largely supporters of the opposition UPND, making the Barotse people twice as susceptible to being treated in the worst way imaginable by the repressive Zambian state agents!

If the Zambian opposition members are treated as second class citizens, imagine what treatment will be given to Barotse people who are also sympathisers of the opposition!

Must all Zambian elections held in Barotseland be filled with so much violence and bloodshed, all imported from Lusaka, or is it that Barotse lives no longer matter in Zambian?

If it were up to us, the Litunga should ban all Zambian political activities in Barotseland! After all, it was only in 1962 when the Litunga, King of Barotseland, allowed Zambian political parties to start operating in his kingdom. Before then, Barotseland had its own politics!

What does Zambia really want from Barotseland? When signing for Barotseland to be part of this now a banana republic, the Zambian state had committed to developing the region! In all honesty, Zambia has reneged on that commitment and has now resorted to bloody political blackmail to beat the people of the territory into submission!

Barotse people must for once see that the Zambian state does not really care for the people of Barotseland! In fact, the only reason they really want Barotseland to continue being part of their demonic republic is that Barotseland has well document deposits of precious natural and mineral resources which the state wishes to start extracting to enrich and benefit the rest of Zambia at the expense of the Barotse themselves!

If it was possible, they would shift everyone in Barotseland to the squatter townships of Misisi and Kanyama, where they would languish as mere night guards, since they can no longer work as police officers, soldiers or other military security wings in the ongoing ethnic purging pursued by the Lusaka government for fear of Barotseland related civil uprising! The ethnic cleansing has now extended to the entire civil and public services with the sole purpose of leaving the entire Barotseland and its people impoverished so that Barotseland would have no strength to resist Zambia’s endgame – the indiscriminate exploitation of both natural and human resources of Barotseland!

Malozi should wake up and realise that within Zambia they will be perpetual victims and losers! They should once and for all decide to take their national fate in their own hands!

Barotseland’s independence from Zambia is the only sure guarantee for its national prosperity! Barotseland and Zambia are separate and different in every way; culturally, spiritually, politically and otherwise! While Barotseland is a civilized, progressive and democratic monarchical Kingdom, Zambia is a brutal dictatorship parading itself as a democratic republic!

May Sesheke bees, thunder and lightning strike them!

VIDEO FOOTAGE: 7 minutes amateur video captured as Zambia police fired live ammunition and teargas at Barotse people in Sesheke whose only crime was to attend an opposition UPND political rally.

BAROTSELAND POST EDITOR’S NOTE: According to fifth Zambian President, Michael Sata, a Lozi doesn’t need to commit any crime to be shot but for merely speaking siLozi!

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The Barotseland Post, also known as The Barotsepost, is an online media platform, for now, that is dedicated to reporting stories and news around Barotseland and beyond, giving exclusive coverage and access to the people and the nation of Barotseland to fully express themselves in their aspirations for self- determination.